Facts & Figures
Shortest Place Names
The shortest place names are just 2 letters long. There are several of these, the most well-known probably being Ho, the capital city of the Volta Region, and Wa, capital of the Upper West Region.
Longest Place Names
Two places in the original (1962/7 maps) GPN database tie for the longest name, with 14 letters - Akotoasubiente (Ashanti Region), and Sakpeolangbene (Northern Region). The first is now known as the shortened form Akotaa and is about 10 miles east of Bibiani on the Kumasi road, and the second is north of Yendi. There is a village which is not shown on the 1962/7 maps but can be found in IM, called Meyenwaikosimeyie, which has 17 letters. Can any place in Ghana claim to have a longer single-word unhyphenated name than this? To take the record, the name must be officially listed in some database, or be found on a map or road sign. Meyenwaikosimeyie appears to have the enchanting meaning, 'I will look after you till I die'.
Lowest Inhabited Place
Two villages along the coastal strip bordering Keta Lagoon lie below sea-level. IndexMundi gives the elevation of Vodza as -5m and Kedzi as -2m. In places the isthmus is less than 50m wide, and has been subject to serious erosion. If it were to be breached by the sea there would be serious consequences for both the lagoon and parts of the villages. Kedzi simply means 'on-sand'.
Highest Inhabited Place
The highest town is Amedzofe in the Volta Region at an elevation of 669 m (2195 ft), near Mt.Gemi, north of Ho. Amedzofe means 'home of humanity', and is the name which the Ewes gave to their original home of Ketu in present-day Benin.
Palindromic Place Names
There are several place names in the GPN database which are palindromes - they read the same backwards as forwards! They include Ada, Aka, Amoma, Aworowa, Esaase, Mim, Olo & Ulu. So far Aworowa holds the record as the longest with 7 letters. Can a palindromic name longer than this be found among the smaller villages?
Number Names
IndexMundi.com lists a place called Ninety, which is in the Central Region a few miles south of Dunkwa and close to the railway line, and GhanaDistricts.com lists a place called Forty Four in the Bono East Region, Atebubu Amantin District. Do these names represent distances from a major city, perhaps to be seen on milestones? There is a village called Mile Nine (or Number Nine) at about that distance west of Obuasi (Ahanti), and Mile 13 is a popular allonym for Kokrobite Beach (13 miles west of Accra), so the practice certainly exists. There also appear to be number names in Akan. In the Eastern Region there is a place called Aduasa ('thirty'), and in the Ashanti Region in the Sekyere Afram Plains District, a place called Dumienu ('twelve') is shown on the 1962 map, but does not appear to be settled now.
There are also 'numbered names' in Ghana. Most of them are 'place pairs', but there are a few higher multiples, the highest of which may be Bayerebon No.5 in the Atwima Mponua District of the Ashanti Region . Well known pairs include Tikobo Nos.1 & 2 (Western Region) and Dawadawa Nos.1 & 2 (Bono East Region). This naming practice occurs when two or more villages of the same name are very close to each other. But how do such names arise? Do the local inhabitants decide, or is it an administrator's or map-maker's convenience?